Six female sales professionals share the barriers they have overcome. "Work-Life Balance NEXT Project"

#Management/Business#Social issue#Working women#DEI

On Tuesday, March 17, 2026, a special International Women’s Day event titled “Hearing from Active Female Sales Professionals: The 5 Barriers and My ‘Work-Life Balance NEXT’” was held at the Dentsu Inc. Headquarters Building. This event was part of the “Work-Life Balance NEXT Project” promoted by Dentsu Inc. The project is an initiative that brings together insights and perspectives across corporate and industry boundaries to tackle the challenge of updating work styles.

On the day of the event, female sales professionals active on the front lines from six companies—each with different industries and corporate cultures—took the stage.The panel featured Yayoi Nishida of Mitsui Fudosan, Yuki Hongo of Japan Airlines, Akari Kubota of Fujifilm Business Innovation Japan, Natsumi Eda of ENEOS, Miyuki Seriguchi of McDonald’s Japan, and Miho Gotanda of Dentsu Inc. Moderated by Kazuhito Goto of Dentsu Inc., the session featured a lively discussion interwoven with real-life experiences.Here is a report on the session, which explored insights gained from daily work and offered hints for overcoming obstacles to find a "comfortable work environment" that suits each individual.

The "Work-Life Balance NEXT Project": Challenging the Status Quo of Work Styles Across Companies and Industries

At the start of the event, Yuko Kunimasa of Dentsu Inc., the project leader, took the stage. She explained the “Five Barriers” facing working women and the “Five Work-Life Balance NEXT” initiatives developed by the project as solutions to these challenges.

Real Voices from Six Women Across Diverse Industries

The Courage to Say “I Can’t.” Turning Individual Challenges into Team Strength

The first theme is “Balancing Work and Childcare.” Ms. Eda of ENEOS reflected on her experience returning to work. “When in-person work resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic, I faced the challenge of balancing it with childcare. For example, I couldn’t make it to a 9 a.m. meeting. That was the first time I said, ‘It’s difficult for me to attend starting at this time, so could you please adjust the schedule?’” She explained that this honest statement deepened her colleagues’ understanding and became the catalyst for exploring new ways of working.

Ms. Hongo of Japan Airlines also deeply resonated with Ms. Eda’s perspective. “Precisely because you can’t change the schedule of childcare, it’s important to adapt how you work and rely on those around you,” she said.Ms. Hongo shared that shortly after being assigned to her dream department, her husband was transferred to a regional office. Prefacing her story by noting that this happened four years ago, she said, “If I gave up here, I might be closing the door for my juniors,” and resolved to balance single-parenting with her job. She explained how her strong will to overcome adversity became the driving force behind carving out a new career path.

Turning Life Events into Career Strength: New Possibilities Born from Dialogue

The next theme was “Caught Between Life Plans and Career.” Ms. Seriguchi of McDonald’s Japan spoke about her experience with an unexpected transfer."When my child was one year old, I was told I would be transferred from Fukuoka, where I was born and raised, to Kobe. While I understood it was an opportunity for career advancement, I felt immense anxiety about raising a child in a place where I had no connections or ties. However, I shifted my mindset to think, 'This is an opportunity for growth,' and took on the challenge. As a result, I built a team where members supported one another and the operations ran smoothly even in my absence, leading to improved performance in the region. My family bonds also deepened, and this experience became a significant asset in my career," she reflected on that time.

Ms. Kubota of Fujifilm Business Innovation Japan shared insights gained from “generational gaps in values and perspectives.”“When I became pregnant in 2005, it was standard practice to transfer employees from sales to administrative roles. While this reflects the company’s consideration and kindness, it can sometimes limit an individual’s motivation and career potential. I realized that dialogue to confirm the employee’s intentions is essential to ensure that well-meaning consideration does not lead to misunderstandings,” she said, sharing insights from her experience.

Ms. Nishida of Mitsui Fudosan also addressed this issue of “excessive consideration.” “The assumption that ‘since she’s raising children, she can only do so much’ can sometimes rob the individual of growth opportunities. Do they want to take on new challenges, or do they want to take it easy for now? I believe that confirming their intentions through careful dialogue and supporting them along the way leads to both personal growth and organizational vitality,” she said, emphasizing the importance of dialogue.

Finally, Ms. Gotanda of Dentsu Inc. touched on the issue of “measures to promote women’s advancement becoming an end in themselves.” Drawing on her experience in HRM (Human Resource Management), she stated, “It would be putting the cart before the horse if the individual feels they are being ‘given a leg up.’ Rather than focusing on gender as an attribute, specifically conveying the expectation that ‘I want to entrust this to you because it’s you’ is the key to fostering the individual’s confidence and the growth of the entire organization.”

The Keys to Overcoming Barriers Are “Sharing” and “Dialogue”

At the conclusion of the discussion, the importance of “sharing” and “dialogue” as keys to overcoming these barriers was once again emphasized.

Ms. Seriguchi remarked, “We sometimes create barriers for ourselves, but ‘sharing’ is what breaks them down. By sharing with your supervisor or family, a path may open up.” Ms. Kubota continued, “Sharing cannot be one-sided. ‘Mutual understanding’ is essential. I believe true communication arises when we make an effort to understand why the other person is saying what they are.”

Mr. Nishida stated, “For two-way communication, the first step is to ‘listen’ to the other person. It is important to accept their values and build a relationship of trust that allows them to open up.”
Reflecting on his own experience, Mr. Eda said, “I feel that by openly sharing my situation from the start, it became easier for those around me to support me. That small step became the catalyst for a major change.”

Ms. Hongo spoke about the importance of overcoming challenges as a team, saying, “It’s important not to shoulder everything alone and to show your vulnerabilities. I’ve realized that by trusting and relying on the team, both I and the team become stronger.” Ms. Gotanda concluded by saying, “Dialogue is not about changing the other person, but about understanding one another. I believe a culture that acknowledges diverse values forms the foundation for a comfortable work environment.”

This was a valuable opportunity for female sales professionals active across diverse industries to share insights and lessons learned from their own experiences and explore ideas for a more comfortable work environment in the future. Participants shared feedback such as, “It was helpful to hear examples from other companies,” and “My concerns were put into words, and I could see the next step forward,” and the event concluded successfully.